Real America

The only thing we have to fear is fear its self. Nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror

Monday, January 12, 2009

See Ya Over There

It's a new year, a new President and a world changing faster than ever. Thanks to everyone who read and especially to my friends who posted here over the past several years. I've moved on to something new and different. I hope you will join me from now on over here.Thanks again and I will look forward to talking to you soon.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Fear, Division, Hate...It's All A Game

The Mideast is the focus of the world again. So where should we, the United States, stand? I say we(as in we the people, screw the governments) should condemn both sides as murders and obstacles to peace. The rest of the world, from Europe to Iran to Russia should do the same. Taking sides just promotes the game and empowers those who use it to control us.

I think most people know or innately comprehend that behind the sheer veil the world is being run by a oligarchic corporate plutocracy that manipulates the world and its people to their advantage to increase their power. That's why many people see little difference in the political parties. Because in truth they don't run the show.

David Icke(who may be a bit out there on some stuff but is spot on on this) lays bare their plan with the method of problem, reaction, solution. They can't come right out and do whatever they want so they “convince” you to accept it. In other words, create a problem, wait for the people to demand action then institute what you want to do anyway as the solution. Like limiting your freedoms with the patriot act, giving ocean liners full of money to themselves to save you from the economic disaster that they engineered and so on. These people are funding and supplying both sides of almost all wars. We play right into their hands taking sides and dancing as the puppet masters pull the strings.

While governments continue to bow we the people of the world are tired of war and killing. We all know it is the most immoral, destructive thing we can do to each other. We don't want to kill each other but are pushed into it by immoral leaders and manipulators. Countries(IE: Israel and Pakistanis) will do what they must but the entire rest of the world should fail to support and rather condemn both sides as long as they slaughter each other. This goes for any conflict. This goes for people in all other countries. Taking sides perpetuates the violence. None who kill to solve their problems should be supported, they should be universally disdained. It's the only way it will stop. We must listen to the complaints of both sides in a fully open and honest way without taking sides. Then both sides need to realize that each must give up something to receive. It beats the hell out of destroying each other and possibly the world at large. The puppet masters create division to mislead and control us. Once we all realize that, and more the world over are everyday, their power falls. Quit playing the game. They've rigged it so you lose and they win every time. Change it, stop the division, force them from behind the curtain, kill their power and empower yourself.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

In 1949, a pamphlet was published that argued that the American auto industry should pursue a different direction. Titled "A Small Car Named Desire," the pamphlet suggested that Detroit not put all its bets on bigness, that a substantial share of American consumers would welcome smaller cars that cost less and burned fuel more efficiently. The pamphlet's author was the research department of the United Auto Workers.By the standards of the postwar UAW, there was nothing exceptional about "A Small Car Named Desire." In its glory days, under the leadership of Walter Reuther, the UAW was the most farsighted institution -- not just the most farsighted union -- in America. ....

Reuther, then head of the union's General Motors division, came up with a detailed plan for converting auto plants to defense factories more quickly than the industry's leaders did. At the end of the war, he led a strike at GM with a set of demands that included putting union and public representatives on GM's board......

That proved to be a bridge too far. Instead, by the early 1950s, the UAW had secured a number of contractual innovations -- annual cost-of-living adjustments, for instance -- that set a pattern for the rest of American industry and created the broadly shared prosperity enjoyed by the nation in the 30 years after World War II......

it was the UAW that funded the great 1963 March on Washington and provided the first serious financial backing for César Chávez's fledgling farm workers union. The union took a lively interest in the birth of a student movement in the early '60s, providing its conference center in Port Huron, Mich., to a group called Students for a Democratic Society when the group wanted to draft and debate its manifesto. Later that decade, the union provided resources to help the National Organization for Women get off the ground and helped fund the first Earth Day. And for decades after Reuther's death in a 1970 plane crash, the UAW was among the foremost advocates of national health care -- a policy that, had it been enacted, would have saved the Big Three tens of billions of dollars in health insurance expenses, but which the Big Three themselves were until recently too ideologically hidebound to support.

Narrow? Parochial? The UAW not only built the American middle class but helped engender every movement at the center of American liberalism today -- which is one reason that conservatives have always held the union in particular disdain.......

Over the past several weeks, it has become clear that the Republican right hates the UAW so much that it would prefer to plunge the nation into a depression rather than craft a bridge loan that doesn't single out the auto industry's unionized workers for punishment. (As manufacturing consultant Michael Wessel pointed out, no Republican demanded that Big Three executives have their pay permanently reduced to the relatively spartan levels of Japanese auto executives' pay.)........Republicans complain that labor costs at the Big Three are out of line with those at the non-union transplant factories in the South, factories that Southern governors have subsidized with billions of taxpayer dollars. But the UAW has already agreed to concessions bringing its members' wages to near-Southern levels, and labor costs already comprise less than 10 percent of the cost of a new car. (On Wall Street, employee compensation at the seven largest financial firms in 2007 constituted 60 percent of the firms' expenses, yet reducing overall employee compensation wasn't an issue in the financial bailout.)

Funny how under liberals we the people got more. Now under conservatives the rich get more and we get less. Guess that's why I like the liberals better.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Coffee Table

Sorry to anybody who might read this blog. I have been busy trying to find work and manage life recently. My inspiration is pretty low right now. I went around and read some of the big rightist blogs today. I have gotten to the point that I don't even understand what they are talking about. It's almost like greek to me. I look around the world and they relate not a whit to what I see. I don't even know how to approach dealing with them because they apparently live on a different planet with different rules than I do. I don't want to be a part of their world. It's even uglyier than mine and that is saying something right now.

If you have something you would like to talk about please leave a comment and we can talk. Thanks for reading and your input.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Reading Room

Hillary is looking more and more like the Secretary of State. They don’t seem to want to say anything until after thanksgiving though. I guess they don’t want us thinking anything about turkeys except as tasty sandwiches. Meanwhile it appears Sarah Palin wanted you to think about turkeys. This shot was set so perfectly it couldn’t have been a mistake. The guy working kept looking around like, “Would you guys hurry up, I have work to do!“ It did it’s job of keeping her in the news anyway. On a mildly similar note, semantics apparently went right over his head. This guy took gettin' it on with a hot chick to the extreme.

More death in front of cameras. This guy killed himself on a webcam at a body building web site. Not the best way to build muscle if you ask me.

Bill Richardson as Commerce Secretary? Why? Look Richardson is highly qualified for a lot of posts but this doesn't seem logical to me. Looks like he will get something though. Warming up in the bullpen, Gov. Denish!

The new setting a date for withdrawal in Iraq agreement says some of the piggish contractors got thrown under the bus. They might be prosecuted under Iraqi law. Sad that other countries need to provide accountability for our countries actions. What happened to that vaulted personal responsibility? Just a talking point for the right. In the meantime Iraqis are burning Bush in effigy on the same pedestal that use to hold the Saddam statue.

Obama is asking vetees about their gun habits with this question: Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage.” This has the gun buddies confirming their fears. It's good they didn't ask Dick Cheney.

We want our money back! The United States has asked four oil-rich Gulf states for close to 300 billion dollars to help it curb the global financial meltdown, Kuwait's daily Al-Seyassah reported Thursday.Quoting "highly informed" sources, the daily said Washington has asked Saudi Arabia for 120 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates for 70 billion dollars, Qatar for 60 billion dollars and was seeking 40 billion dollars from Kuwait.Looks like another "too big to fail" Citibank will get some government money. The biggest investors in the company is our oil money. Wouldn't want the mid east oil titans to lose their money now would we?

They've served their purpose and now you should forget about the whole Osama Bin Laden scam. Al queda in decline.

Here's another great wingnut idea. Put your social security into the stock market! Hell, lets just privatize everything. We could be the new Somalia! No government, you're on your own!

Now a few of my thoughts. First it never fails to irk me when 'certain people' rush to blame the least among us, the poor or the working citizen, for nearly everything that goes wrong in this country. Meanwhile they defend or quickly mention the people that have the most to do with it and then move back to we the people as the reason. The unions are responsible for the fall of the auto companies. Not likely. They are the people who actually BUILT the cars and made it possible for wealthy at the top to take home their millions. They are the people who don't have the tax breaks or advantages, they are the backbone of this country.Ford was making a 40% profit on the Taurus, built in Atlanta. Parts, labor, health, R & D, transportation and dealer costs them around $9,500 per vehicle. Their sales cost? Almost $17,000. Same holds true for the SUVS and trucks. Unfortunately, the guys making the big money were not looking ahead. The Accord and Camry killed them. If it all goes down millions of working people lose their jobs and the people making the big money and big mistakes are set for life.Under a new, two-tier UAW contract signed in 2007, the average base wage rate for existing workers at each of the Detroit Three is about $28 per hour, and new workers will be hired at base wage rates of $14 to $16.23 per hour. So the guys that aren't making millions, the worker, makes 53 thousand a year. Apparently an outrageous salary to some. Believe me, I would love to make that. I'm much closer to that 14 dollars. I have never come anywhere near that 53 thou universe but it's not like it is an outrageous amount of money. 3 to 10 million a year plus a multitude of perks is outrageous. Especially if your decisions are costing the company money. Henry Fords success came at the beginning because he understood that he needed to pay his workers enough to buy his cars.If you think 53 thousand is too much to pay them put on a hard hat and step into an automotive, steel, or textile mill where one mistake can cost you an arm, leg or life, then come on back and preach about turning your back on unionized industries and companies, but be sure to work in both types of plants, union and non-union to see the difference in them. John Stuart Mill said "There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be realized until personal experience has brought it home."One thing these corporate bigwigs could have done is join others in pushing for universal health care instead of moving to countries like Canada and Mexico that already have it. It would save them billions a year. The responsibility for pensions should be transferred to the unions. Not only would it help the companies but it would prevent them from raiding it. Yes, unions have overreached at times. For example to say X is the only job you should do and you need to call in X to do something else is silly and stupid. Unions aren't pure good but with no leverage for the worker the country and the mass of population is in danger of being devalued to the point of disgusting.

On the other side. I have many reasons to find these multinational corporations as disgusting and harmful to our economy overall. The defenders of disgusting wealth will claim that better fuel efficiency and green cars are years off. How about this. And it's not just diesel cars. Here's the European websites for Ford,General Motors and Chrysler. Lines of small fuel efficient cars. Even a Sebring that gets over 50 MPG! They can do it but for some reason they have chosen not to sell them in the US. Why is that? And how about a new car that is being readied for right here in the US by a new maker. No gas at all! A sharp lookin baby too! The technology is here today. We are being handed a bill of goods. I think the big, and I mean really big, money people at the top are trying to turn this country into a banana republic where we again are surfs to the moneyed aristocrats. All this bailout crap is a part of the plan they have been working on for years. It all got done while most people were not paying attention and poo pooing politics and political action. Again, it is exactly what they wanted us to do. Every time a company is bought up by another one what happens first? You got it, they fire people and eliminate jobs. Somehow the big companies of all kinds have to be eventually destroyed or broken up and competition has too return with more and smaller companies. You know, like the kind that aren't too big to fail. We also need to rethink this free trade crap. Go back to tariffs which will bring money back to the treasury making it possible to lower taxes and will encourage manufacturing in our country again.

On the gay marriage front. I don't know why people want to push their lifestyle or religion on others. A truly free country wouldn't do that. While I believe a child needs a mom and a dad in the home, if we make it a law then we have problems cuz the world doesn't work that way. If you want to preserve the sanctity of marriage then why not work on eliminating divorces? That is far more a problem in the area of the sanctity of marriage than gay marriage is. No church should be forced to perform gay marriages. If your problem is calling it marriage then offer all the same rights and responsibilities and call it civil unions. Gays should be amenable to that. I have not much more to say than that. I'm not gay and it doesn't effect my life much. I am a US citizen though and I think the equality of all should be respected.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Note To Republicans

With the election result about a week old now one of the big agenda items for the Republicans is how they approach the next 4 years. As a Democrat, be it a rather disgruntled one up to now, I suppose my thoughts aren't worth much to them. The fact remains they need people they don't have now so let me offer some thoughts. First places where I can find agreement with conservatives/Republicans:

1. The Constitution and its preservation is paramount.Yes I believe in the 2nd amendment. I also believe in the 1st and the 4th and all the rest of them . Some support for them also would be helpful.

2. Hard work and personal responsibility is a USA value. And hard work will be valued again when it is... valued...like in $$$

3.(Many liberals will disagree with me on this) The traditional family with a mom and a dad is the best kind and best for children. Unfortunately my kids didn't get this but I wish they could have.

4.We should be fiscally responsible.This doesn't mean we should not spend. It means we should set priorities, get the best value for our money, punish companies that go over budget and avoid large debts.

5.Crack down on illegal immigration.While our reasons for doing this are dramatically different and the possible solutions may be different I share the goal.

6.Focus on small business. You will have no problem getting the vast majority of liberals to go along here. As a matter of fact I think the tax breaks for large corporations should be going instead to small and medium businesses. I also think that any company that has over 30% of its operations outside the country or maybe North America should not be considered a United States company and should receive fewer advantages than a home company.

Ok, now the biggest problems for Republicans.

1.Everything I say here will be ignored as the rantings of a liberal.They act like teenagers who think they know it all. They won't listen to anybody, refuse to find a common ground on anything and roar in outrage at every little thing. When they go up against an adult the majority of the country is going to choose the adult. Kid Hannity is the perfect example here. Whenever I watch him I see a little boy in a big boy suit.

2.They hate everything and everyone and find it all a life altering threat. For hating the victim mentality so much they sure do a dead on imitation of it. Drama queens to the max.

3.Name calling, demonization and division.Calling me a terrorist appeaser, America hater, baby killer, and on and on....Well pretty soon they cover vilifying over half of the country simply because they disagree with them and they lose.

4.Social conservatives.The United States was founded partially because they got tired of somebody else's religion being rammed down their throat. Keep it up and this will not only be the base, it will be all that is left.

5.Fear mongeringPretty soon it looks like they are the cowards. Scared of everything. You don't have to blow up or destroy everything that scares you. When your only tool is a hammer everything looks like a nail.

6.Supporting things they said they were against in the last administration. Like foreign entanglements and Constitutional violations like warrantless wiretapping etc.

Yes there is more on both ends but this covers some of the biggest of the big picture.

So what will they do? My prediction is they will hammer away with all the negatives I have listed above. They will continue to run the angry white male/talk show shouter/I'm a better American than you gamit that they have slipped into like an old pair of boots. They will lose even worse in 2010 and finally decide that blaming the 'liberal media' for their defeat will not lead to victory.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Reflections On The Election

First thank you to every one who voted and especially to those of you(you know who you are) who got out and did the leg work and donated your time and resources to make this possible. It's been a long hard road. It's been tried and now the Reagan Revolution is over. The world changes in 30 years and people eventually realize we must go forward. The Republicans have some work to do but I will write a separate post on that.

I don't usually vote for people that end up winning. As a matter of fact I think I have never voted for someone in a Presidential primary that even got the nomination. But tuesday I voted for all winners! I refused to vote at all for the state house. Here in wingnut world we had only one choice there and they were all Republicans. I am still in awe that we now have a Democratic representative in the US congress. How many decades has it been since this district has had that!? I have to say I voted for him reluctantly but I hope he exceeds my expectations. He is absolutely better than his conservative counterpart.

John McCain's concession speech was admirable. He was the only Republican that stood a chance in the election because he was...I stress “was”..different. If the McCain of 2000 would have maintained his principals this election would have been much closer. Unfortunately he pandered to the radical right and found out that this country is far more tired of conservative/neocon thinking than they anticipated. I had to laugh and feel disgust at the same time today. I heard commentators on Fox saying that Obama won by moving to the center and this is still a center right country. WHAT!!? The day before the same people were calling him socialist/Marxist and the most liberal person in the country. People have figured them out. They aren't fooling anybody but the people with the little rightist chip in their brain that gets programmed on a daily basis. They also said this was not a mandate to move left and he would be punished if he went that way. This was a mandate and they can maintain their illusion of a center right country if they want but it is now center left. Their inability to accept changing circumstances is biting them there too. The idea that he will be punished for doing what he promised to do is inane.

I think there are a number of factors that lead to this victory. Of course Geo Bush, his crimes against the people and country and a desire for something very different played a role. Secondly, the community organizer ran a great campaign. A welcome departure from what we have come to expect as Democrats. Howard Dean and his pushing of the 50 state strategy deserves credit too. Who would have ever thought that we could win Indiana. A state whos government was once controlled by the KKK for Gods sake! The McCain campaign was really bad. That leads me to the thing that I think was the primary motivator. People finally got an open, up front look at who and what the radical right really is.

I get really, really tired of the 'you hate America', 'you aid the terrorist' by disagreeing with us bullhockey. This year the name calling and monstrous beast of negativity and fear was clear for all to see. There's much about Sarah Palins wingnuttery that people didn't see but thank God she is dumb as a board and couldn't hide that although the campaign tried. People saw with their own eyes that they would say anything no matter how outrageous to destroy their opponent. In the politics of personal destruction the culprit was clear for all to see. Celebrity/messiah/Muslim and terrorist/socialist/Marxist/baby killer- just a few things he was called. All of that drowned out any policy or plan they may have had(although they didn't seem to have much of that). Their semantic game to the extreme and it worked against them this time. The funny part is many of them have no idea. Nobody is going to tell them either. They will blame it on the liberal media or some malarkey. That's ok with me. Be lost in the forest for as long as you want radical righties.

I am not sure if Obama will be a great President or not. That tale is yet to be told but his election has already had positive results if we can hang on to them. First the obvious. Someone besides a white male is President. So many more people now feel they count and can make a difference. Secondly, if you have seen the overseas reaction, they are as ecstatic as we are. To be the leader somebody has to be following. That's something the Bush crowd never comprehended. This election goes a long way toward the world giving us another chance. Thirdly, this was a people powered win. Grassroots won this, they donated much of the money and did the leg work. A refreshing change in a world of corporate government. This is only the beginning but lets hope our new President can convince people that they need to be involved if they want their country back. If you don't want government to do everything then we the people are going to have to get it done ourselves. I must admit to not feeling very patriotic or proud of my country for some time now. It didn't live up to the values that we profess. As a matter of fact in the last 8 years they didn't even try. They blatantly said it would put us in danger to preserve our liberties or work for peace instead of war or refrain from torture and on and on. I'm starting to get that proud of my country feeling again. I hope dearly that it continues. They very best part about the whole deal for me is this: